In a manufacturing facility, items are packaged into boxes which are grouped in a linear configuration and positioned or aligned, such as on a conveyor with an end stop and reference clamp to pre-position the boxes. The aligned boxes are then lifted from the conveyor and placed onto pallets for shipment. Recent advances use fixed vacuum suction devices to lift the boxes from the conveyor and a robotic arm to transfer the vacuum suction devices and the associated boxes to a pallet.
The present invention was developed in order to provide an adjustable gripping assembly in which the gripping devices may be adjusted depending on the size and number of boxes to quickly and efficiently transfer aligned boxes to a pallet.